Suns 2015 Trade Deadline Aftermath

[carey]

Very interesting. Can't wait to read it.

[Split T]

Fail.

Agreed. At the very least they still had until early summer to cash in the pick for a better return.

But if MCD was really thinking like this, why not atach it to Bledsoe to get Love, or with Tucker/Thomas to get Greg Monroe, or some like this. I mean, if you think your premier asset is close to it's expiration date, then go all in and swing for the fences.

I had dreams about Bledsoe going to Cleveland to join Lebron's quest with Love coming to the desert. I felt that he deal would required a pick, but the LA pick seemed to much to give up, even for Love. It turns out our think tank was feeling that it was barely whorty as a sweeter.

Mind blowing.

I like the trade he made better than Bled/pick for love and Pick for Monroe. Love fits our offense well but I wouldn't risk his UFA. Monroe is also an UFA and we wouldn't have his bird rights. I also think Knight is better than Monroe. I'm not super fond of the trade myself, but their is an argument to trade it. It's current value was 7. Future value could have been 5 or it could have been 10. We took the safe route and got decent value for it. If the Lakers get the 4th pick next year, the trade will look bad, if it's 10th or 11th, I'd rather have Brandon Knight.

[ShelC]

Love doesn't want to play in Phx guys. He wouldn't be in Cleveland if it weren't for LeBron and Bledsoe/Knight aren't intriguing enough to lure him.

Same with Gasol. You can pine over these guys, but superstars like them want to go someplace they can win right away, not wait 2-3 years to see if a plan is going to work out.

[iLLmatic]

The more Ryan talks the more I think he doesn't know how to build a team, manage a roster, prioritize and evaluate needs and resources, and understand the league landscape. He's got an eye for talent and understands the game. But he just seems like a guy who has been tucked away in a closet, watching film to scout individual players. And he seems to share Blabby's lack of perspective, which is absolutely debilitating.

I thought this last Thursday after all the trades we made and finding out we gave away the LA pick. Ryan seems to be more of a head scout kinda guy, not a guy who knows how to build a team, and unfortunately it's showing. I hope someday down the road we can find a GM who has some experience building good teams and isn't learning on the job. I do have high hopes for Brandon Knight but it was not worth giving away that LA pick, even if that pick turns out to be higher than we expected I still think it was foolish to give away an asset like that especially when Knight could have been signed in the off season. My only hope as of now is that Knight shows some big time flashes in the next 30 games, Ryan smartens up and trades away golden boy, he trades away the twins, and Tucker in the off-season. I wanna see this team built around Len, Warren, Knight, and Goodwin, I think that's the only he can atone for trading away that LA pick in my opinion.

[OE32]

I think many posters here are overvaluing that LA draft pick, certainly in relation to Brandon Knight, about whom I'm optimistic. He'll certainly have more value than Goran at near-$20 mil per. And for those who are so in love with the LA pick, why not similar love for the Heat picks? In my view, we essentially traded Dragic and Plumlee for Knight. We rolled last year's Wizards' pick forward into a future Heat pick and the LA pick into a future Heat pick.

The most upsetting things about the trades is the subsequent and profound negativity I've seen surrounding the front office. Was not expecting it. I think we felt genuinely damages by Duffy and Goran and told them, if you screw us, we'll screw you. And that's what we've seen.

I liked IT, but we ended up getting a super-low first rounder in next year's draft for him. Not exactly a great return.

[virtual9mm]

^ This

[Mori Chu]

I think many posters here are overvaluing that LA draft pick, certainly in relation to Brandon Knight, about whom I'm optimistic. He'll certainly have more value than Goran at near-$20 mil per. And for those who are so in love with the LA pick, why not similar love for the Heat picks? In my view, we essentially traded Dragic and Plumlee for Knight. We rolled last year's Wizards' pick forward into a future Heat pick and the LA pick into a future Heat pick.

I agree that the Heat picks are nice assets. That second one especially, the one that conveys in like 2021 or whatever, that could end up being a really great pick.

But the point is: WE COULD HAVE HAD BOTH. The LA pick was given away in a separate transaction from the Dragic deal. We could have sent out Dragic, pocketed those two nice Miami picks, and also kept the LA 1st rounder. The transactions were not connected in any way.

Yes, that would have left us with a gaping hole in our guard rotation, but if we're doing all this, we are sort of tanking the rest of the season anyway, aren't we? Might as well run Goodwin or Green at SG and rack up some losses, while keeping a ton of great picks.

It's going to be a long time before we get those Miami 1st rounders. We could have had that amazing Laker pick in about a year and 3 months, and it could be an absolutely killer pick, maybe 4-5 in the draft. We are going to really regret trading that pick.

[ShelC]

Unless the Lakers completely miss in free agency, that pick is going to be in the teens. It won't be a 4-5 pick in 2016. Again, they could land Rondo and Love this offseason. Reggie Jackson and Monroe. It was a calculated risk. They're not the Bobcats or Timberwolves. It's LA and they have capspace. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dragic ends up there.

[Indy]

I think many posters here are overvaluing that LA draft pick, certainly in relation to Brandon Knight, about whom I'm optimistic. He'll certainly have more value than Goran at near-$20 mil per. And for those who are so in love with the LA pick, why not similar love for the Heat picks? In my view, we essentially traded Dragic and Plumlee for Knight. We rolled last year's Wizards' pick forward into a future Heat pick and the LA pick into a future Heat pick.

I agree that the Heat picks are nice assets. That second one especially, the one that conveys in like 2021 or whatever, that could end up being a really great pick.

But the point is: WE COULD HAVE HAD BOTH. The LA pick was given away in a separate transaction from the Dragic deal. We could have sent out Dragic, pocketed those two nice Miami picks, and also kept the LA 1st rounder. The transactions were not connected in any way.

Yes, that would have left us with a gaping hole in our guard rotation, but if we're doing all this, we are sort of tanking the rest of the season anyway, aren't we? Might as well run Goodwin or Green at SG and rack up some losses, while keeping a ton of great picks.

It's going to be a long time before we get those Miami 1st rounders. We could have had that amazing Laker pick in about a year and 3 months, and it could be an absolutely killer pick, maybe 4-5 in the draft. We are going to really regret trading that pick.

^This

[Indy]

Unless the Lakers completely miss in free agency, that pick is going to be in the teens. It won't be a 4-5 pick in 2016. Again, they could land Rondo and Love this offseason. Reggie Jackson and Monroe. It was a calculated risk. They're not the Bobcats or Timberwolves. It's LA and they have capspace. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dragic ends up there.

Didn't they have plenty of cap space this last offseason too?

[ShelC]

Capspace that they chose not to spend. They tried to keep Pau but wanted to wait until this offseason for a PG and Love/Monroe/Aldridge and even Durant in 2017.

http://lakerholicz.com/mitch-kupchak-re ... 2014/02/24

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... gency-move

[JCSunsfan]

McD sold high on the Lakers pick, or at least that's his message. Two problems, though.

First, to me it looks too soon to sell. The Suns are probably not getting the pick this year, but that's ok.

Building a playoff team in the west is no easy task, as we certainly know, and the Lakers are not exactly one piece away. It's not hard to see them improved in 15-16, but the pick is yours if there are just three teams worse than them, which seems a safe bet.

McD is gambling on the Lakers doing enough to remove the luster of a pick that we were getting, one way or another, and honestly it is a risk I am not comfortable taking, for Brandon Knight at least.

But above all my issue is the specific player they targeted, and his surroundings. Again, Knight is good, but unless he makes another leap, he is a number of tiers below real NBA relevance so giving up our supposed best asset (plus Ennis-Plumlee) for him is underwhelming, strictly from a quality standpoint.

I would have been much more on board with the move if instead of another guard it would have been similar talent at a different position.

Then you get to his contract situation. Impending RFA, whose current team clearly didn't want to pay, at least what he demands. This had 'won't match/sign and trade at best' written all over him. If McD loved him so much, after clearing salary with the deadline moves, he could have gone after him in the summer.



The upside here is that acquiring him at the deadline is useful (beyond the playoffs push) because with a little juggling (say dumping PJ, no Green-Wright back) his cap hold will grant the team max space to make a second big FA move.

This seems the strategy the FO will follow, which sounds nice but let's also remember it would be the second crack they take at it after last summer, so we will see what happens.

In the meanwhile I can't avoid thinking that the franchise has been stripped from its best player and its best asset. A hefty price for a summer of miscalculation, such is the unforgiving nature of the NBA, isn't it?

I wonder if there is info floating around about LA's plans for the summer. If they could pull something like sign Dragic, sign Love, get Randle healthy, land the top pick (Okafor?). Add that to a more healthy and team oriented Kobe, and you could have a team competing for the 7-8 seed.

I think they have enough space to sign two max FA's one way or another. Alderidge, Love, Gasol, as big men, and Dragic or Rondo for pg's etc. Rondo would be perfect to play with Kobe. They have a lot of possibilities. If the Lakers were a few games better this year, McD would not have traded the pick.

[Sunsfan4life]

I think you have to hold onto the LA Pick. Theres nothing wrong with what they got for Dragic. Infact, Given the circumstances it was actually a very nice job of aquiring assets for the future without getting something bad back by Ryan.

But I would of held the LA pick and cashed it in next yr. It will still hold the same value IMO, and if nothing came along then I would keep it obviously.

I wonder if Behind closed doors Mcdonaugh knows Dragics is going to LA. Maybe they told him "We're not re-signing because he wants to play with the Lakers" a Dragic/Kobe/Love or something like that would get the Lakers back in the playoffs next yr.

[JCSunsfan]

I think you have to hold onto the LA Pick. Theres nothing wrong with what they got for Dragic. Infact, Given the circumstances it was actually a very nice job of aquiring assets for the future without getting something bad back by Ryan.

But I would of held the LA pick and cashed it in next yr. It will still hold the same value IMO, and if nothing came along then I would keep it obviously.

I wonder if Behind closed doors Mcdonaugh knows Dragics is going to LA. Maybe they told him "We're not re-signing because he wants to play with the Lakers" a Dragic/Kobe/Love or something like that would get the Lakers back in the playoffs next yr.

We will get to see whether gambling and holding or cashing in now was the right decision. Maybe you are right.

I am wondering about that too. For instance, he may have heard that Rondo is going to LA and maybe LMA too. The Lakers don't actually have to make the playoffs for trading the pick to make sense. If the pick ends up 10-15, he might value Knight above the pick. I would not be surprised at all if they had some math geek crunching the numbers and saying that trading for Knight was by far the safer bet.

I just hate it because have never had a good pick, it seems.

[Mori Chu]

I think it's totally presumptuous to say that the Lakers will be in the teens. They'll have to hit a couple of free agency home runs for that to happen. And yes, they're the Lakers, so they'll probably get at least one good free agent. But who knows if they'll get a guy who can actually turn around their team? Who knows if that FA will play well with Kobe? I just don't have any certainty that they'll nab every great FA and make some kind of good/decent team next year. The Knicks had a butt-load of cap space and assets, and they got jack squat. The Lakers themselves had lots of money last offseason and didn't get much. You can't tell me that they were not trying to get good FAs. They tried. They just didn't get them. Melo said no, Lebron said no, and so on. They tried, and they failed.

That pick is going to be a top-8 pick for sure. I'd put it at around #6 if I had to guess.

[ShelC]

Lakers were never in the mix for those guys, same as us. They just made the rounds, were respectful and got media attention. Melo wasn't leaving 30 mil on the table and LeBron was always going back to Cleveland. And if you can get those two, you go for it, but they didn't make a play for anyone else.

And the Knicks were in the same boat. They're preserving all their capspace for this offseason when they'll have two max spots next to Melo.

[Shabazz]

Unless the Lakers completely miss in free agency, that pick is going to be in the teens. It won't be a 4-5 pick in 2016. Again, they could land Rondo and Love this offseason. Reggie Jackson and Monroe. It was a calculated risk. They're not the Bobcats or Timberwolves. It's LA and they have capspace. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dragic ends up there.

I could see the Lakers signing Monroe. Maybe Rondo too. Rondo/broken down Kobe/recovering Randle/Monroe/jetsam/flotsam. Guess what? That's still a bottom 3 team in the West. Rondo sucks these days and I'm not sure he's going to get "it" back.

They're waaay behind the rest of the Western pack. Their roster is trash and devoid of young talent.

Our only hope for not coming out looking poorly is if the pick doesn't convey until 2017. By then it may be in the teens. If the pick conveys this year or next, there will be a player taken with that pick or the picks immediately following it that becomes a stud. Book it.

That doesn't mean the pick should have been untouchable. I just don't think Knight was an appropriate return for an asset like that. That was our best shot at a star.

[OE32]

I think many posters here are overvaluing that LA draft pick, certainly in relation to Brandon Knight, about whom I'm optimistic. He'll certainly have more value than Goran at near-$20 mil per. And for those who are so in love with the LA pick, why not similar love for the Heat picks? In my view, we essentially traded Dragic and Plumlee for Knight. We rolled last year's Wizards' pick forward into a future Heat pick and the LA pick into a future Heat pick.

I agree that the Heat picks are nice assets. That second one especially, the one that conveys in like 2021 or whatever, that could end up being a really great pick.

But the point is: WE COULD HAVE HAD BOTH. The LA pick was given away in a separate transaction from the Dragic deal. We could have sent out Dragic, pocketed those two nice Miami picks, and also kept the LA 1st rounder. The transactions were not connected in any way.

Yes, that would have left us with a gaping hole in our guard rotation, but if we're doing all this, we are sort of tanking the rest of the season anyway, aren't we? Might as well run Goodwin or Green at SG and rack up some losses, while keeping a ton of great picks.

It's going to be a long time before we get those Miami 1st rounders. We could have had that amazing Laker pick in about a year and 3 months, and it could be an absolutely killer pick, maybe 4-5 in the draft. We are going to really regret trading that pick.

Valid position. You'd be ditching the MoBros and Bledsoe by not putting any talent around them. You'd have Len growing up as the elder statesman on the roster. A total rebuild, where in terms of acquired and developed talent we'd be somewhere between Philadelphia and Orlando. We went another direction, which I think is perfectly reasonable as well.

I find it strange that many of the same people who advocated keeping (and paying) Goran now want to blow it up. What, we were contenders with him, but we're crap without him. Give me a break - or better yet, coherence.

[INFORMER]

I think many posters here are overvaluing that LA draft pick, certainly in relation to Brandon Knight, about whom I'm optimistic. He'll certainly have more value than Goran at near-$20 mil per. And for those who are so in love with the LA pick, why not similar love for the Heat picks? In my view, we essentially traded Dragic and Plumlee for Knight. We rolled last year's Wizards' pick forward into a future Heat pick and the LA pick into a future Heat pick.

You're really bending over backwards there.

[INFORMER]

Unless the Lakers completely miss in free agency, that pick is going to be in the teens. It won't be a 4-5 pick in 2016. Again, they could land Rondo and Love this offseason. Reggie Jackson and Monroe. It was a calculated risk. They're not the Bobcats or Timberwolves. It's LA and they have capspace. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dragic ends up there.

I could see the Lakers signing Monroe. Maybe Rondo too. Rondo/broken down Kobe/recovering Randle/Monroe/jetsam/flotsam. Guess what? That's still a bottom 3 team in the West. Rondo sucks these days and I'm not sure he's going to get "it" back.

They're waaay behind the rest of the Western pack. Their roster is trash and devoid of young talent.

Exactly.